Water cooler



Sept. 1, 1953 H. w. TAYLOR WATER COOLER Filed April 10, 1950 IN V ENTOR.

f7 TTORNE V Patented Sept. 1 1953 Halsey W. Taylor, Warren,

Ohio, assigns!" to Halsey W. Taylor-Company, Warren, -hlo, -:a

corporation of Ohio Application April I0, 1950,..Setial'No.1.5!,954

3 Claims.-

My invention relates to water coolers and the principal object ofmyinvention is to provide new and improved apparatus of this character;

In an effort to secure optimum eihcie'ncy from water coolerconstructions, many attempts have been made to utilize the coolingeffect of Water which-is ordinarily wasted and which flows-to'th'e:drain. Such waste is caused by various reasons; for example, wateriswastedwhen a consumer turns on the watercontrol valve and permits aquantity of refrigerated water to flow from the dispensing device beforetaking a drink. Also, waste is created because frequentl-ynot all waterissuing from the dispensingdevice is consumed during drinkingoperations; Thus; the relatively cold water passes to drain and normallyrepresents a loss in over-all efiiciency:

The prior art has employed thermal transfer' devices whereby theincoming-water is pro-cooled by the water passing to the drain, but suchdevices have met with manyobjections for the reasonthat they were eithersubject to clogging-by debrisaccumulating in the drain, or representedonly a negligibleamount-of efli'ciency as compared to the' increase in.cost of. manufacture.

Further, such devices depended upon heat transfer relationship betweenthe drain conduit:

and the tube carrying the incoming water and thus. were subject tothermal losseshetween theseparts; In other word's,.-inpriorart-constructions:

the; relatively cold drain: water loses some or' coldness-toxthezrelatively warmer drain conduit with the resultuthat the. incoming wateris: not pre-cooledthe maxim amount; Since watermay:

flow to drain only. during consumer use of the water cooler, and sincesuch use maybe: at infrequent intervals, it will" be appreciated thatthe coldnesslost to the drain conduit is of considerable importance.

My invention provides a highdegree of therma-l transfer betweenincoming, water and outgoing drain water without entailing thedisadvantages of prior art constructions.

In the drawing accompanying specifics,-

tion and forming. apart. oi this application there,

is shown, for purposes .01 illustration an embodiement which myinventionqmay assume, and :in thisdrawing:

Figure 1 is anelevationalview of a water drinkeing fountain portions.being broken away-to: dis close detail show inner. construction, and,

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional view corresponding generally to theline 3'-3 of Figure -2.

Referringtothedrawing; anembodiin'entnf my invention is-hereindisclosedf'oruse with arcingerator-type water' cooler H1, comprising a'casing H,thel'owerend of which encloses a motor-compressor-condenser unit whichmaybeof anysuit able type andtherefor is not shown or describedi. Awaterstorage tank 1-2 is supportedthe upper portion of the casing .1 I in anydesired-manner; Referring particularly to Figure 1, a refrigerrant-carrying coil I-3'i's disposed with-in the store age tank l2;Some localities require that the? coil f3 be disposed onthe outside. ofthetank: 12*

- and it will be appreciated" that such change may' be made Withouta-fi'ectin-g my invention;

'With respect to: the present disclosure a conduit M provides for upwardflowof liquid rerfrigera-nt from the condenser t'o', and-through,- anautomatic expansion valve- I 5 above the-tank 4.12, where therefrigerant is converted to a liquidvapor mixture; the temperature ofwhich-drops duetopartialevaporationoftherefrigerant; The mixture ofliquid refrigerant and vapor-enters into theupper' endofthe tank: 1 2bymeansof a conduit P6 and is connected to-the upper end of the coil1"3.

At least a part of-the-coil' I3 is disposed about a coil I 1' whichreceives-waterfront the lower. in! tenor" of" theta-nit 'l-z a-nd'delirerssuch water tova control valve l-8 by means=of aconduit-IB LAsu'cition= line 20' carries gas back from the: coil: to thecompressor-condensing unit, where'ritis compressed, condensed andconverted; into li'quid so that the cycle "may be repeated. The fore:-

going issubstanti'ally in -accordance-Withthe dis closure in Letters-Patent: No; 22785226; issued to me on March- 3L, 1942} and detaileddescripition' is believed to-be unnecessary. It will be ap preciatedthat the upperport'i'onoi the interior-of theucasing it will. heprovided with insulating material surrounding: the; water tanle l2 andco operatingpants; to: preventicoolingt lossesl :Suclr insulation isomitted from the: drawings in: the

interest of clarity;

'- catch basin 2 5 is connected to a drain-conduit construction 26 whichleads the unconsumed water to a suitable drain (not shown).

Referring particularly to Figure 2, in the embodiment herein disclosed athreaded fitting 21 extends through an opening in the lower-most portionof the catch basin 25 and a sleeve-like coupling 28 is threaded onto thelower end (if the fitting 21. The coupling 28 is preferably providedwith a flange 29 so that a gasket 30 may be clamped between it and theadjoining surface of the catch basin 25 to prevent A conduit 3preferably rectilinear and of substantial cross-sectional size andlength, has its upper end threaded into the coupling 28 and also has itslower end threaded into acoupling which is here shown as a reducingelbow 32. A pipe 33 leads from the elbow 32 to the drain.

Water is supplied through a tube from a source (not shown) to thestorage tank l2, and in the present embodiment the tube has its lowerend 34 connected to the source and its upper end 35 leading into theupper end of the storage tank l2. The water supply tube, intermediatethe ends 34, 35, is formed into an elongated tube-like coil 36 which isdisposed within the conduit 3|.

The coil 36 may be formed prior to its disposal within the conduit 3 I,and it has been found that in coiling round tubing the coiled tubingbecomes somewhat flattened, as seen in Figure 2. It will be appreciatedthat the tubing may originally have a cross-section other than round,but since round tubing is readily available, such type is preferablyused. The tubing is preferably tightly wound so as to provide generallya closed tubular formation, as illustrated.

To assemble the water tube after coiling, the coupling 28 is formed withan aperture 31 and the upper end 35 of the water tube is threadedthrough such aperture prior to the time the conduit 3| is threaded intothe coupling 28. Thereafter, the conduit 3| may be threaded to thecoupling 28, the water tube and its coiled portion 36 being heldstationary with respect to the coupling 28.

The elbow 32 may be formed with an aperture 38 which is generallyaligned with the axis of the conduit 3| so that the lower end 34 of .thewater tube may be threaded therethrough and the elbow 32 rotated tocoupled condition with the conduit. After proper assembly, the apertures31 and 36 may be closed by solder, or closed in any other suitablemanner to prevent leakage.

Referring to Figure 2, it will be noted that the exterior diameter ofthe coiled portion 36 is less than the interior diameter of the conduit3| so that such parts, although disposed generally coaxially, are out ofengagement. Thus, the conduit 3| is maintained out of heat transferrelationship with the coiled portion 36. In cases where the diameter ofthe coiled portion 36 is just slightly less than the interior of theconduit 3|, a tube 39 of thermal insulating material may be disposedwithin the conduit 3| prior to assembly of the water tube to insureproper insulation of the coil 36 from the conduit 3|. Further, it may bepossible to form the conduit 3| of thermal insulating material, or ofmaterial that is a poor thermal conductor, in which event the coiledportion 36 may be made of a diameter to substantively engage the innerwall of the conduit 3|.

As shown in Figure 2, the fitting 21 carries a deflector collar 40 inposition to deflect drain water so that it drops onto and over thecoiled portion any space around leakage of water.

4 36 and preferably scrubs over the inner surfaces of such coiledportion in its descent to drain.

It will be appreciated that since there is no thermal loss from thecoiled portion 36 to the conduit 3|, the cooled drain water flowingdownwardly along the coiled portion 36 will effectively pre-coolincoming supply water flowing upwardly through the coiled portion.

'In view of the foregoing, it will be apparent to those skilled in theart that I have at least accomplished the principal object of myinvention and it will also be apparent to those skilled in the art thatthe embodiment herein described may be variously changed and modified,without departing from the spirit of the invention, and that theinvention is capable of uses and has advantages not herein specificallydescribed; hence it will be appreciated that the herein disclosedembodiment is illustrative only, and that my invention is not limitedthereto.

I claim:

1. A pre-cooler device for a drinking fountain, comprising a drain pipe,a supply conduit for drinking water having a coiled portion disposedwithin said drain pipe, said coiled portion having one laterallyextending terminal portion and another generally coaxially extendingterminal portion, a coupling threaded to one end of said drain pipe andhaving an opening in its wall through which said one terminal portionpasses, and an elbow threaded to the other end of said drain pipe andhaving an opening in its wall and in general alignment with the axis ofsaid coiled portion and through which said other terminal portionpasses, whereby said pre-cooler devicev may be assembled by disposingsaid one terminal portion through said coupling opening, disposing saiddrain pipe over said coiled portion and threading said drain pipe tosaid coupling, and disposing said other terminal portion through saidelbow opening and threading said elbow to said drain pipe.

2. A pre-cooler device for a drinking fountain, comprising, an uprightdrain pipe, a supply conduit for drinking water having a coiled portiondisposed in upright relation within said drain pipe, said coiled portionhaving a laterally extending upper terminal portion and a generallycoaxially extending lower terminal portion, a coupling threaded to theupper end of said drain pipe and having an opening in its wall throughwhich said upper terminal portion passes, a deflector collar fittingclosely within said coupling above said opening and having an innerperipheral discharge lip overlying the upper end of said coiled portion,and an elbow threaded to the lower end of said drain pipe and having anopening in its wall and in general alignment with the axis of saidcoiled portion and through which said lower terminal portion passes,whereby said pre-cooler device may be assembled by disposing said upperterminal portion through said coupling opening, disposing said drainpipe over said coiled portion and threading said drain pipe to saidcoupling, and disposing said lower terminal portion through said elbowopening and threading said elbow to said drain pipe.

3.A pre-cooler device for use in conjunction with a substantiallyvertically disposed straight walled drain pipe of a refrigerateddrinking fountain, said device including a coiled watersupply conduitdisposed entirely within and spaced from the interior surface of saidpipe, a deflector collar fitting within an upper portion of said drainpipe and having an inwardly and downwardly flared peripheral dischargelip disposed in substantially medially overhanging and unobstructedspaced relation to the peripheral upper end of said coiled conduit sothat cold waste water from said refrigerated fountain will flow over theupper end of said conduit and thence downwardly over and in directcontact with the inner and outer surfaces of said coiled conduit ingenerally peripherally distributed manner, and a tubular sheathing ofinsulating material disposed between said conduit and the straightwalled interior surface of said drain pipe to insulate against thermaltransfer therebetween, whereby heat exchange is confined between thewaste Water and said coiled conduit and cooling losses through the wallof said drain pipe are minimized.

HALSEY JV. TAYLOR.

References filted in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSNumber Name Date 154,418 Reed et al. Aug, 25, 1824 1,458,899 Wolfe June12, 192 1,593,664 Mitchell July 2'7, 192-3 2,010,50 Askin Aug. 6, 19352,446,289 Love Aug. 3, 1948 2,481,662 Hastings Sept. 13,

